Where It All Began: Jalopies

It’s amazing how no money, some spare time, and a passion for racing can amount to big things. From just before World War II to the late ’60s, jalopy racing was a staple of fairgrounds and dirt tracks across the country. On any given night, old heaps were flung in the mud for excited, paying spectators, with meager purses hopefully—but rarely—covering the participants’ night of racing.

Rules varied, but the effort was to keep tabs cheap for both entrants and fans, with safety in mind. The bulky old coupes and sedans combined with slow speeds kept incidents to a minimum, in most cases. Junkyard cars and parts were the weapons of choice, and if the rules weren’t enough to keep you from raiding the cookie jar, claimer racing clamped the lid pretty tight.

What’s claimer racing? The top three or four finishers had the option of putting up a set amount of money before a race to purchase or “claim” the car winning ahead of him or her after the finish. So the potential for having your race car bought out from under you tended to limit the amount invested in your weekend racer.

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Especially on the West Coast, where professional athletics had yet to venture from the Midwest and East and the weather permitted year-round racing, jalopies became a popular spectator sport and perfect for Sunday afternoon television, where Dick Lane and his “Whoa Nellie” catchphrase could be heard echoing from house to house.

Full schedules could include Powder Puff women-only racing, figure-eight and destruction derbies, and “consi” consolation races. It was wholesome, cheap entertainment for the entire family.

As the ’70s approached, the cars became more professional and organized, with both Hobby and Sportsman classes separating six-cylinder cars from V8s. With the introduction of wings, and housing tracts gobbling up many tracks, jalopy racing changed forever. Or maybe not.

In more recent years, jalopies have made a small comeback in California with vintage-type cars like the OkieBowl Hardtops in Bakersfield (OkieBowlHardtops.com) and Vintage Hardtops in Santa Rosa (NorCalVintageHardtops.com) looking a lot like old Gardena and Orange Show Speedway reincarnate.